NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season appears to be waning with two straight weeks of decline in measures of flu activity, according to the latest government data released Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted data — for flu activity through last week — that showed a big drop in flu hospitalizations and a smaller but significant decrease in medical office visits due to flu-like illness.
The number of states reporting high flu activity also fell — from 44 to 36.
Meanwhile, there have not been large surges in two other winter menaces — COVID-19 and RSV.
CDC officials are calling the current respiratory virus season “moderate.” But that doesn't mean the season is over, especially for flu. Second surges in flu activity often occur after the winter holidays.
“We've had other seasons where we've had a peak, it's gone down, but we've nonetheless had a prolonged season," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
“Most of us are crossing our fingers,” he added. ”But I don't think we can rely on the concept that flu is abating very early this year."
Medical experts have worried about this season because it has been dominated by a kind of flu virus, called A H3N2, that historically causes the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people.
Even more concerning, about 90% of the H3N2 infections analyzed this season were a new strain that differs from the version accounted for in this year’s flu shots.
So far this season, there have been at least 18 million flu illnesses and 230,000 hospitalizations, according to the CDC. The agency also estimates there have been 9,300 deaths from flu so far, including at least 32 children. For those children whose vaccination status is known, 90% were not fully vaccinated against flu.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - A pharmacist gives a patient a flu shot in Miami on Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Bichette and the New York Mets agreed Friday to a $126 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced.
A two-time All-Star at shortstop with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bichette will move to third base with the Mets, who have Francisco Lindor at shortstop. Bichette has never played a professional game at the hot corner.
Bichette can opt out of the deal after the first or second season to become a free agent again. He would receive $47 million for one year and $89 million for two years, the person said.
If he opts out, the Mets could not make him a qualifying offer, so they would not receive a draft pick as compensation if he signed elsewhere.
The deal does not contain any deferred money and Bichette gets a full no-trade provision.
Bichette batted .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 139 games for the Blue Jays last year. He homered off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bichette sprained his left knee late last season in a Sept. 6 collision with New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells, keeping the infielder out of the lineup until the World Series. He returned for Game 1 against the Dodgers and played second base for the first time in six years.
Bichette led the American League in hits in 2021 and again in 2022. He finished second in the major leagues in batting average last season to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
Bichette turned down a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from the Blue Jays in November, so they would receive an extra draft pick in July after the fourth round if he completes his deal with New York.
He was one of the last remaining big-name hitters on the free agent market after Kyle Tucker agreed Thursday to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers.
Bichette, who turns 28 in March, has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays since they selected him in the second round of the 2016 amateur draft. He is a .294 career hitter with 111 home runs and an .806 OPS in 748 major league games.
He is a son of former big league slugger Dante Bichette, a four-time All-Star outfielder.
AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
FILE - Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette celebrates his three run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning in Game 7 of baseball's World Series, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Toronto. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE - New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns responds to questions during a news conference about MLB trade deadline deals, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, File)
